


A Leg To Stand On

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: & means platonic right?, a no flirt zone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 18:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: There's only so much of being a non-modified defect that one gem can take.





	A Leg To Stand On

Anything worth doing, was worth the risk. 

 

Normally it was a motto she didn’t really live by because she was a peridot. Peridots didn’t take risks. Risks were for gems like rubies or quartz, because soldiers weren’t made to think, they were made to fight. Peridots were meant to think, not to needlessly risk themselves doing stupid things. Especially given that the shortage of materials for them on Homeworld.

 

But this wasn’t Homeworld. She wasn’t a peridot, she was Peridot. She was her own gem, and could decide what she wanted to do with her life. That was how things were on Earth. Her data was limited, so she couldn’t exactly do the proper calculations on anything anymore, so every move she made was a risk. Every little thing was a variable that could cause less than desirable results, but at the same time could be exactly what she wanted and more.

 

She sat on the barn floor,  weighing her options. As it stood, she was still working with minimal tech, and the cans and tablet Steven had offered her had only provided so much comfort. The tape recorded was also helpful, but as did much of the things she loved, it was destroyed. She was aware that that was his best, but his best could only go so far. Same with the discovery of her magnetism and her acceptance into the “shorty squad”. 

 

As much as they had worked to help her accept herself, there was still the undeniable fact that she was in fact incomplete. As a generation two peridot she lacked the skills of other more complete gems. She had no shape shifting capabilities, and she couldn’t summon a weapon if her life depended on it.

 

It was still beyond her why Amethyst of all gems didn’t understand where she was coming from. She wasn’t made right either, hers might’ve just been a case of over incubation and not lacking materials, but how could she not understand why these were important? Maybe it was just because she wasn’t lacking in the skills of a quartz? Maybe because even if she came out wrong she wasn’t lacking in the skills of a gem?

 

Either way, none of that mattered. Self loathing could wait until later. Right now she sat in front of the last bit of her limb enhancers she had left. A single foot that she had kept since it had been returned by Steven. It honestly meant more than the cans did. His heart was in the right place, but it still wasn’t the same.

 

What she had to do wasn’t pleasant. It was an all or nothing situation, but she was going to take the risk. Earth was a completely unpredictable place where a fusion could be two different gems spending time together, a pearl could build and fight as she pleased, and a peridot could do something risky and potentially dumb.

 

She took a deep breath in and steadied her screwdriver. Now was the time for risks, not rookie mistakes. She wasn’t going to destroy something this important by having shaky hands. She had worked on much more sensitive material before, this should be a walk in the park.

 

Carefully, she opened the panel on her leg enhancer. This was honestly the first time she had taken a look in there. She had never needed to look in there before. And if she did poke around in there before, that would be a risk. Peridots didn’t take risks. If the occasion arose, then she would have to poke around in there.

 

But this wasn’t Homeworld, there were no replacements or others to repair them. She had a single leg, and that was all she had. But the panel was off, she was already this far. She had to commit.

 

With the panel off, she could see that there wasn’t really much there in terms of complexity. There were some mechanisms to enhance the magnetism to help her walk on all surfaces. The main thing there was that she needed to get it to bend to fit her feet like the old ones did. The magnetism was something that she could do on her own. 

 

Her legs had been a solution so simple, that it was honestly a little frustrating that she had worked herself into opening it, only to find that there wasn’t really anything in there that she wasn’t already capable of doing and building.

 

But the main issue was going to be in recreating the arms. The legs were the simple part of the equation. The arms required much more effort to build them, and while she was sure that she could easily figure it out, building one from scratch seemed like it would be a near impossible task.

 

She would have to dig through all the ancient tech that they had at the barn to try and find anything that could hold memory to the capacity that she needed, and something that she could use to recreate her screens. 

 

This would be so much easier if she could see what she was working with. She had fixed things like this a time or two when she was working under Yellow Diamond, when something of hers would break. But those screens were so much bigger, and what she needed worked on a much smaller scale, but she didn’t want to make it too small. She didn’t really want to risk distorting the data she had collected and making it harder to read.

 

Having the feature to fire lasers again would also be a nice perk if she could get that running again. Just in case she needed to defend herself and there was nothing metal around other than her fingers.

 

She could faintly hear the warp pad announcing that she was going to have a guest. That could wait, what she was doing was very important. Anyone visiting would figure it out and wait until she was done. Sitting down and staring at her leg extensions wasn’t going to help her any. Pacing felt like the right thing to do. She’d pace and solve this.

 

There was nothing that was going to be used at the Kindergarten, perhaps Steven would be willing to make another trip with her to gather up supplies. If they weren’t so vitally important, she would sacrifice the television and tablet. 

 

There had to be something that they missed while combing through the Kindergarten for supplies for the drill. Anything was helpful at this point.

 

“Peridot.”

 

“I can’t talk right now. I’m trying to do something important.”

 

“Well, I brought something that I think you might like.”

 

Couldn’t she see that she was busy? What good were three eyes if you couldn’t use them to see the obvious? She didn’t have time for gifts, nothing was as important as what she was doing right now (unless it’s the movie to Camp Pining Hearts, because while not as important, still high up there for things she needed in her life).

 

But regardless, she’d look. She’d huff as she did it, but she’d l-

 

“My limb enhancers! How did you- Why did you- Wow, thanks.” She wasn’t one to get emotional, but she was tearing up as she hugged them against her body. Ever since she was bubbled, she never thought that she’d ever get to see those ever again. 

 

“They meant a lot to you, so I went and got them for you. They might be a little waterlogged, but I thought that you’d like them back. It’s the least I could do for the newest member of the Crystal Gems.” Garnet shrugged casually, with that same cool confidence that had to come from the combined self esteem of two gems. 

 

“I’ll go now so you can focus on repairs.”

 

“Wait! I mean- I wouldn’t mind the company. Lapis is out on a walk, and I’m sure you won’t bother me. You can stay if you want. I’m not gonna stop you.” She saw the slight smile on Garnet’s face, before she took a seat by the barn door.

 

“Alright, if I’m not going to bother you.”

 

“Excellent. I’ll get to work on these right away.”


End file.
